Electronics companies use the most power in Taiwan, but if they switched from coal to renewable energy sources, they could save 100 lives every year, Greenpeace Taiwan said yesterday.
As the nation’s semiconductor businesses gathered at the opening of the SEMICON Taiwan exhibition in Taipei, several members of the environmental group held up banners outside the exhibition hall, including one that read: “Make IT Green.”
Over the past 15 years, 51 percent of increased demand for power in Taiwan has come from the electronics industry, Greenpeace Nordic Global Air Pollution Unit senior analyst Lauri Myllyvirta later told a news conference at the organization’s branch office in Taipei.
Nearly 16.2 percent of that increased demand for power came from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), while 35.5 percent came from other electronics companies, he said.
Despite TSMC’s need for power, only 7 percent of its power came from renewable sources, while most of its electricity came from coal-fired power plants, he said.
Compared with other domestic companies, TSMC is relatively enthusiastic about going green, and it is expected to implement bolder measures to fulfill its energy needs from renewable resources instead of fossil fuels, Greenpeace Taiwan said, adding that it would forward the results of its survey to the company.
If local electronics companies got their power from renewable resources, 100 premature deaths associated with air pollution — such as respiratory, cardiovascular and lung cancers — could be avoided thanks to the reduction in air pollutants, it said.
Myllyvirta in April last year also visited Taiwan to urge the government to scrap a project to build the coal-fired Shenao Power Plant in New Taipei City, saying that there was no such thing as “clean coal” as then-premier William Lai (賴清德) claimed.
In October last year, ahead of the nine-in-one elections, Lai withdrew the project.
Last year, 38.8 percent of the nation’s electricity was generated by coal-fired power plants, 38.6 percent by natural gas power plants, 11.4 percent by nuclear power plants, 4.9 percent from renewable resources and the rest from mixed sources, according to data on the Web site of Taiwan Power Co.
The government plans to phase out nuclear power by 2025 and gradually reduce the ratio of coal-fired power.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS